


Call it Fate (Jschlatt x reader)

by VerbatimTruths



Category: DSMP - Fandom, DreamSMP, dreamteam - Fandom, jschlatt - Fandom
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 11:07:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30105012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VerbatimTruths/pseuds/VerbatimTruths
Summary: Who knew that accidentally meeting an old friend could blossom up new feelings in less than a week? Enjoy this one-shot! Kudos and comments are appreciated!
Relationships: jschlatt/reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	Call it Fate (Jschlatt x reader)

Autumn wind blew through my hair as Vienna sprinted in circles chasing a ball. I laugh softly as the fox bound up to me with express glee as it dropped the ball on my lap. Picking it up I stood up and tossed it far and she was off. I watched her form disappear over a hill and I muttered to myself.

“Ah fuck,-“ racing after her I crested the hill to see Vienna on her back, being calmly pet by a boy no older than three. Now, I personally knew Vienna was a sweet girl and wouldn’t hurt a fly but this little boy could’ve gotten hurt and… where are his parents. I huff slightly and stalk down the hill, attempting to look as pleasant as possible.

“Vienna!” I called out. Both the boy and the fox looked up to me, the brunette boy’s hands faltered and Vienna took the opportunity to come to my side. Little tears bubbled in the boys eyes but before they fell I crouched in front of him.

“Hey little man,” I offered him a smile as he looked up at me confused.

“I want the doggy,” he wasn’t pouting though, more stating that he wanted to pet her.

“Vienna is a very special doggy, you need to ask to pet her,”

“Can I pet Ve- Ven’a?” I held back a chuckle as he tried to pronounce her name.

“Sure thing,” I waved the red fox over and sat beside them. The boy quickly latched onto Vienna again ruffling her fur and gently petting it. “Hey, do you have a name kiddo?” I ask with a tilt of my head.

“Toby! I’m Toby!” And he offered his little hand out for me to shake, which I gladly did.

“Okay Toby, where’s your mom? Or dad?” He paused for a minute, burying his face into Vienna’s fur before popping back up.

“I dunno…” he whispered. My eyes widened. Did his parents..? Surely not.

“Well, y’ wanna come with me and Venna to look for them?” His eyes lit up as he stood and offered me his hand to hold. He was such a well mannered kid, only an idiot would leave him behind. He took two of my fingers into his hands and kept his other hand on Vienna’s back. I smiled softly as I looked for anyone who looked even remotely like this poor little boy. I heaved a heavy sigh and the boy looked up at me confused, I made a quick smile at him.

“Does anyone here look like your Papa, Tobes?” He looked around and then gasped as he saw a panicked brunette with,,, mutton chops, frantically he was looking around, flicking his gaze all over. His eyes caught me and Toby and his face lit up with relief. He rushed over to us and Toby released my hand, clambering up into his father’s arms. I watched them reunite with a small smile, for some reason this guy was very familiar.

“Thank you so much for takin’ care of Toby, I turned around for one minute and he was gone!” He heaved a little sigh as he ruffled the kid’s hair. I shook my head gently.

“No need to thank me, I’m just glad he’s safe,” for a moment our eyes met and I could’ve sworn he looked more familiar than ever.

“Do I know you?” We both blurted out at the same time. I let out a laugh and he laughed too.

“Uh, y’know, you do look really familiar,” he muttered, “Y’know if you don’t mind, what uh, university did you go to? And uh, where did you live?” I gave him a rather confused look before shrugging a little.

“I went to Harvard, and stayed at Hanover Alewife, why?” My brows furrowed and I suddenly felt something click. “Johnathan?!?” My eyes widened and a smile crawled across my lips.

“YOU! THE BROAD FROM 120! Yeah! Shit, I remember you! Holy- it’s been a while,” he laughed warmly and the memories came flooding back.

“Yeah, god you were such a dickhead.” I smirked up at him and he rolled his eyes.

“And you were so annoying,” I twitched my nose at him and then stuck out my tongue.

“Yeah yeah,” I chewed my lip a little before speaking, “do you want to like, catch up sometime?” He looked me over, then looked to Toby, who was happily nuzzled into him and looked about half asleep.

“Y’know I think I’d like that, do you still have my number?” I grabbed my phone and scrolled through the contacts,  _ “That Bastard from 118” _ . “You did live in 118 right?”

“Yeah,”

“Then yes, I do, you’re saved as, and I quote  _ “That Bastard from 118” _ ,” I laugh wildly and grin over at him, he’s laughing too, warmth and happiness spread through his features. I couldn’t help but stare at him for a little longer before I shook my head. “I should go, Vienna needs to eat,”

“Vienna?” He asked and at the mention of her name the red fox popped up from where she was laying down. “Oh!-” he jumped a little as she waggled her tail and bowed into her play posture.

“Vienna, no, down,” I murmured as she sat down by my feet, “yeah, she’s a sweetheart, actually thats how I found little Tobes, he was cuddled up and petting her, I’m glad she managed to entertain him because it would’ve been horrible to lose him.” I whispered. He nodded and gently ran a hand over Toby’s head.

“Yeah… Well, I’ll catch you later okay? Broad~” the way his voice lilted when he spoke had my heart turning in my chest. I pushed it off and smiled, giving him a nod and a wave as he left with Toby waking up and waving goodbye at me. I looked down to see Vienna begging me with her eyes to go home. I nod down at her and make my way to my car.

The next few days passed quickly. I exchanged a few words with Johnathan over the days, planning a time to meet and where. We ended up choosing a nearby cafe, for a coffee. He said he was excited and my stomach turned in excitement as well. I giggle softly as I message him. 

_ “Headed to the cafe! See you soon!” _ I hoped I didn’t seem too overly cheery, but I couldn’t help it, it was pretty nice to talk with him again, something about it was so nostalgic and fuzzy. I roll my eyes at myself and get into my car.

The drive to the cafe didn’t take particularly long, but I found myself hesitant to go in, it was a fairly nice looking cafe, how could I feel underdressed at a cafe?? Of all places. Patting my jeans gently, and smoothing my shirt I let out low and growled noises from my throat as I stepped out of my car and shut the door. I adjusted my bag’s strap a little and walked inside. It wasn’t hard to spot him, his tall stature and mutton chops made him so easy to see. As I approached I noticed his hair looked a little messier than usual, he’d worn a nice collared shirt but the top buttons were undone, and he looked most of all tired, the dark rings of black under his eyes were concerning.

“Heya Johnathan!” I smiled as I sat down in front of him. He took a minute to look at me before offering a tired and half-hearted smile.

“Hey,” he croaked out. His normally rather low toned voice was deeper, and rougher, almost as if he’d swallowed sand paper, I gave him a concerned look and he shook his head, squaring his shoulders and settling. “How uh, how was the drive,” by the way he cringed I could tell he was hating that he was making such poor small talk.

“It was alright, not too long actually! It was nice,” pausing for a minute I tapped my fingers to the table before sighing. “Nope, I can’t do the small talk, J, what is up with the dark circles, you look like you haven’t slept in weeks!” He scratched his cheek, running his finger back to worry his hair.

“Listen, I’m gonna be real with you man, I can’t take care of Toby, I love the boy to death and it hurts me so much to say it but I can’t! It’s not like he’s a bad kid I just don’t know how. I’ve looked through all the parenting books I could but it’s been keeping me just barely scraping by!” In a moment of desperation he reached out and grabbed my hands, consuming them with his larger ones. “I don’t want to give him up, but I don’t know how much longer I can do this…” his eyes dart anywhere other than my face, embarrassed he’d do something like this in front of me. I gently hold his hands back, running my thumb over the back of his.

“Y’know, I’m pretty good with kids J, I could help you out with Toby,” suddenly his eyes that were so focused on the table darted to our hands and then my face.

“I-“ he floundered, searching for the right words, searching for a proper answer. “I can’t- you-, I just think-“ he sighed heavily and looked back down. “I appreciate the offer but I can’t just ask you to babysit him.” For a moment my jaw goes slack and I, regrettably, laugh.

“Johnathan, I’m not saying I’ll just take Tobes off your hands man, I’m not gonna babysit him either, I’ll come over to your place, we’ll address the issues you’re having, and I’ll help you fix them,” he looks at me incredulously for a moment, offended I would laugh before he squeezes my hands.

“You’re serious? You’d do that, for me?” I offer a small nod and a gentle squeeze of his hands. A smile cracks across his sullen face and his eyes get bright and shiny, I don’t even have the moment to register as he stands up and pulls me out of my seat, up and into his arms. Clamping down tight around me he pulls me into the biggest bear hug I’m sure I’ve ever received. I wrap my arms around him too, nuzzling my face into his chest, fuck he’s tall. He coughs a little and then releases me. “Uh, thanks, dumb broad,” and for a moment, he looked so much less tired, and a lot happier.

“No worries, asshole,” he sneers and I elbowed him gently. “So where’s Tobes now?” I had just realized Toby wasn’t here with him.

“Well, actually thankfully my neighbor was kind enough to look after him for a few hours,” he smiled. I giggled and nodded.

“Alright, well since we’re here, maybe we should get something to eat? Or drink?” I offer with a tilt to my head. He nods and stands up.

“What do you want? I go up and order and shit,” his lip twitched with a mild smirk as he looked me over again, this time with a glint in his eyes that I couldn’t quite explain.

“Oh, uh, hot chocolate, and uhm,” I paused taking a glance up to the chalkboard with the treats, “cinnamon bun, please!” I laugh softly, looking up at him. He gives a curt nod and heads to the counter. I pick up my phone and open up my security app, checking on Vienna from the cameras in my flat. She was currently sleeping on my bed up in the mezzanine, I sighed slightly and smiled before flicking away from that camera and onto the next. Everything seemed, for the most part, normal. I jump in my seat as the sound of a mug and plate being clinked down in front of me.

“Scared ya?” Johnathan’s voice ringed with amusement as I wormed in my seat to settle down. Looking up at him he had a shitty smirk as he set a coffee down in front of himself.

“A little,” I murmur as I pull a section of the cinnamon bun apart and nibble on it. He lets out a rather loud evil laugh.

“You look like a damn rabbit! Hell, you look like a bunny, just, so small,” he teased with a little sneer as he sipped up his own black coffee. I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him, taking another chunk of the cinnamon roll and eating it quickly. My eyes flicker up to him as he looked out of the window to my right. The light haloed his face, lighting up his features and making him look heavenly. I stared for a moment longer, drinking in his tired, yet somehow revitalized visage. I timidly sipped on my hot chocolate as he ruffled his fingers through his hair before he looked back at me. Brown hazel eyes flickered with amusement as he took another drink from his coffee. His eyes pulled me in and it wasn’t until he snapped his fingers in front of my face that I jolted and focused back on eating and other things. He let out a chuckle under his breath as he tilted his head. “You alright in there?” I nodded quickly and blew stray hairs out of my face.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” I chuckle softly and snack on the rest of my bun. “Hey, J?” I asked, he caught my gaze and nodded, “what do you think of autumn?” He raised a brow a bit and then laughed.

“Y’know I’ve never really thought of it ‘cause it’s kinda a stupid question, but uh… Y’know it’s- it’s nice, the leaves are pretty and different colours and shit and uh yeah it’s good I guess. It’s a good season, the air is just cold enough you don’t have to worry about boiling under a jacket, and y’ get to cuddle up under blankets when night comes…” he paused, worrying his lip with his teeth. Then he leaned back, noticing he had been slowly leaning closer to me. “But like I said that’s a dumbass question anyway, y’ dumb broad,” my eyes widened slightly before I laughed and rolled my eyes.

“Sure thing, dickhead,” he muffled his laugh before checking his watch.

“Shit-“ he whispered before standing up, causing his chair to scoot backwards slightly. “Fuck, ‘m really to cut this short but I just realized, I’ve gotta get Tobes-“ I pause for a minute, then I stand up.

“Alright, let’s go get him,” Johnathan whips his head to look at me in confusion, opening his mouth for a second before I cut him off, “did you forget already?” He shakes his head quickly.

“No- okay- uh, just follow me out with your car okay?” Nodding I head out the doors of the cafe following him out and turning to my car. I hop in and give him a thumbs up, we pull out and head towards his place.

It’s a longer drive than I was expecting, at least thirty minutes until we reach an apartment complex, to which he pulls into the parking lot and parks. Following his lead I backed into a spot and looked at the complex. It’s not great to be honest, the bricking is too dirty to call rustic, there’s cigarette butts littering the ground and people standing on their balconies, glaring out at the world around them. I step out of my car slowly, hesitating as I walk towards Johnathan. He doesn’t look particularly pleased either. Staring up at the building with disdain he looks over to me and then sighs, waving his hand.

“C’mon, let’s go,” he guides me to the front doors, both of which take quite some effort for him to pull open, and he walks me inside. The walls are a sickly brown-grey and I can’t tell if it’s the dust coating them or the pattern of the wall, the wooden flooring croaks and groans under our feet as he pulls me past the  _ ‘out of order’ _ elevator that truly doesn’t look like it’s been serviced since it was built. As we open the door to the stair well I’m hit with the awful smell of something rotting. I look over to J, concern welled in my eyes he simply shakes his head, grabs my hand, and pulls me along. “Sorry about the mess my apartment is gonna be,” he murmurs as we approach a door, “I haven’t had the chance to clean in a while,” 

“I-it’s fine J, I don’t mind,” he gives me a look and I know he saw right through my comforting words. He knocks on the door and it swings open.

“J! Hey man, how are you? Who’s this? Wait- no you’re here for Tubbs not to talk with me-,” before Johnathan has half a second to speak the door shuts again. After a moment the blonde haired male comes back out with Toby right beside him. “Tubster was just asking when you were gonna be back!” Toby, upon spotting his father, ran into J’s legs and hugged him tight, not letting him go. J placed a gentle hand on the kid’s head before reaching for his wallet.

“Sir,” I ask towards the blonde, finding myself compelled to talk to him, “uh, how much are your services for watching lil Tobes?” His eyes widen slightly and he looks at J surprised.

“Well, this time it’s 75 bucks, since I watched him over time.” His eyes are shifty, and rude, “But-“ before he manages the rest of his sentence I slap the 75 dollars into his hands and smile.

“Thanks for watching Toby,” gently, I take J’s hand and Toby’s and pull them away. The man grumbles and shuts his door. As soon as I hear the click of the lock I stop moving. “Sorry,” I mutter, “he was pissing me off,” J stands in stunned silence before he grins widely.

“Thank you so much,” he murmurs, squeezing my hand. I nod and then look around, he catches on and begins leading the way back to the stairs and up. After a flight or two we enter into another hallway lined with doors, but these are far more spread apart. J takes both Tobes and I to a door and unlocks it, swinging it open. “Welcome,” he smiles lopsidedly as he gestures me in. Stepping inside I note the walls are actually fairly nice, a pale beige with little to no markings on it. The floors are similar in shape, a few scuff marks on the dark wood but other than that they’re fine. The couches are slightly torn and there are a few toys and blankets scattered around the floor. I give the room a half-smile and then immediately go searching for Toby’s room. I spot it quickly, there are bee stickers and pictures taped to the door, pushing it open gently Toby greets me with a little wave as he goes back to playing with his bee plush. His room is a gentle green with yellow and floral accents in the bed sheets. His room also seemed the most well kept. There are a few toys on the ground and the bed isn’t made but other than that it was perfectly clean. I give Toby a smile and a wave before stepping out. After shutting the door I take a step backwards directly into a wall. Wait no. This wall is warm… feeling a pair of arms curl around my waist I immediately recognize it’s Johnathan.

“Hey J,” I murmured, looking up at him.

“Hey,” his voice is soft almost as if he fears Toby will hear us. He lets go of me and directs me down the hall to the bathroom. The bathroom is white tiled with peeling wallpaper , a few towels hung loosely from the door. He then gently pulls me towards the final room in the hall, a bedroom. I immediately recognise the scent of whisky and cigarettes that he has somehow contained just to his room. J is quiet as I glance up at him, offering him nothing more than a quiet smile. I place my hands on my hips and turn to face him entirely.

“Now, what time does Toby usually hit the sack?” He thought for a second. Something within his eyes flickered before he glanced at Toby’s door.

“Well, I usually manage to get him down by 9 but I start around 7…” His low mutter of a voice told me he had spent far more nights up far later than that just to get Toby to sleep. I give him a sympathetic smile.

“Okay well, I’ll get him to bed by 7:30 at the latest, okay?” Johnathan nods. He seems lost for a moment, like he was unsure of what to do now. I pause before gently taking his hand and pushing open the door to Toby’s room. “Heya Tobes! Whatcha up to?” His eyes glisten and sparkle with excitement as he gestures for both of us to sit with him as he pulls out a small pile of scrap paper and a box of crayons.

“Look at what I made!” he then splayed out the papers which depicted J and himself in some, having parties or just standing, as y’know, children do. Others depicted bees and flowers, trees and grass, water and the sky, and they were quite beautiful, very cute to say the least. Johnathan ruffled the boy’s hair and smiled wide.

“Tobes, it's great! These are so good, bud!” I giggled at J’s warm reception and praised Toby too.

“They’re amazing, what's up with the bees bud? They your favourite or something?” I tilt my head at the brunette child.

“Well, I like bees. They buzz and fly and they’re so cute! Like they just, bzzzzzzzz!~” He bounced up from the floor and ran around holding his arms out wide. J gently nudged me, giving me a  _ “Look what you’ve done now,” _ look. I wave my hand at him dismissively before standing up. Toby stopped in front of me before grinning.

“Up!” He lifted his arms and I immediately swooped down and picked him up, lifting him into the air. Swishing around he squealed and screamed in excitement. I paused for a moment and felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist before I was hoisted up. I held still as Toby let out even more joyous screams. J then began walking around and spinning us as I lifted and dropped Toby in the air. Toby laughed and laughed until he yawned rather loudly and I pulled him into my chest. He grumbled something about being sleepy. I took a glance at the clock and noticed the time. I felt my feet hit the ground but the arms that were holding me up stayed. Toby yawned again and I gently pulled away from J with mild difficulty, I picked up Toby’s plush and set both him and the plush into his bed. I whispered out an almost silent goodnight as I looked back towards J who looked off embarrassedly. He stole my hand and pulled me into the living room, dragging me onto the couch. Nibbling on the inside of my cheek I smile.

“Well, that was easy,” he groans slightly and rubs his hands up and over his face. Sighing heavily he left his head in his hands as he looked over to me.

“You’re a god send,” he whispered, shifting in his seat. “I’m- I'm scared I’m not bein’ a good father, y’know? That- that he’s gonna grow up poorly or- or I’m not gonna be able to keep him around.. I mean shit, you see the state of this place, it’s just, not the best for him.” His hands flex as he clasps them together in thought.

“Well, for starters, Toby would hate to leave you, he would. You can make this place better for him and I’m here to help. So, I have to ask, what do you do for work?” He shied away from me and ran his fingers up through his tousled brown locks.

“I uh, I stream and post to YouTube…” he muttered softly, almost as if he was embarrassed.

“Okay, how’s that doing?”

“Well, currently it’s okay I just… my problem isn’t work it’s… it’s how I spend my money…” he whispers and the memory of his room, the smell of whiskey and cigarettes, floods my head

“Oh,” he cringes away from what he assumes is my disappointment. “Well, I’m not going to lie, it’s probably not the best thing for you to do around your kid but we can fix it. How much do you smoke and drink?”

“Oh Jesus… well, I smoke at least half a pack a day. I drink, well, no one would call it modest…” I tap my fingers against my arm before nodding.

“Alright, well, here’s one immediate change, your limit is five cigarettes a day, no more than that. For drinking, let’s say no day drinking, so, nothing before seven pm and nothing after, if you stay up that late, twelve.” His eyes widened and then he laughed.

“Yeah, I’ll try.”

“You will. And you’ll feel better, it will take a while, but you will,” brown orbs flickered to me as I spoke. He nodded once more and then gave an awkward glance sideways at the bottles of liquor sitting on the kitchen table. “Oh, and we’re cleaning this house tomorrow, whether you like it or not.” He whipped his head back towards me.

“Alright,” he laughed softly. “Hey, do you want a drink? We could watch like, a movie? If you want?” Grinning, I nod. The brunette stands up and waltz’s over to the liquor on the counter. “Any preference?”

“Oh, if you have vodka,” his eyes widened before he roared with laughter, listing to the side as he reached up to grab some tumbler glasses.

“Alright, you a chick who likes it straight too? Or on the rocks?”

“On the rocks,”

“Good girl,” he chuckles devilishly and I feel a slight spark at that stupid pet name. I roll my eyes and grab his remote turning on the tv and the VCR. Johnathan places the glass on a napkin in front of me and I offer him a little smile as he plops down on the couch. I stand up and look over the movies he’s got before settling on letting fate decide and grabbing a random one. I put it in and sit back down with him.

“This one?” J asks, tilting his head as the movie started playing. I nod and shrug.

“I kinda let fate pick, to be honest,” he chuffs and nods, settling down and taking a drink. I pick up my own and sip carefully. It burns only a little as it goes down and I lean back into the couch.

I haven’t been paying much attention to the movie, something about a spy or whatever. I’ve finished my drink already and I’m just relaxing, feeling almost a little tired as I shift slightly and find myself tentatively curled against Johnathan’s side. He doesn’t look down at me, so I assume I’m alright, and then I feel his arm move. His arm slithers from its awkward position as my head rest to glide across the crown of my head and down my back, gently pulling me a little closer to him, all while he keeps his focus on the movie. Shocked, I scoot closer, shifting for comfort before settling against him. His arm tightens around me once I settle in, something about the gesture is warm and comforting. Maybe it’s the alcohol, but even I know I’m not that much of a lightweight. My attention flickered back to the movie on the tv. I tried to tune in, to listen to the noise but I couldn’t keep the feeling of him holding me, cuddling me. Uhg, why am I like this. Groaning internally I give up and curl up against him further and at some point nod off.

_ POV Switch! ;3 _

I feel her form shift beside me, pushing against me. Instinctively I curl my arm around her more snuggly. How long had it been? Since I’d ever held a girl like this before? Sure as hell wasn’t in a good few years. Ah fuck, I probably should tell the stupid broad about Tobes huh?

“Ey-“ I pause as she shifts, it’s not normal though, then I realize. She’s breathing slowly… she fucking asleep. I’m not as upset as I anticipated though. Rolling my eyes at myself I feel the itch to get another drink but as I attempt to move she grumbles beside me.

“Fuckin’… hell…” My voice comes as a low whisper. Well, guess I’m not getting another fuckin’ drink. Stupid broad, falling asleep on me and shit… I lean back against the couch. She was right, I did need to clean this place up. Suddenly I’m disgusted by everything. She probably didn’t notice it at first glance but the stains on the walls stared directly at me, taunting me. I close my eyes though, even though I know I’m not headed to sleep any time soon. I strain my ears, listening hard to make sure Toby was doing alright. Then, once more, Dumb Broad kicks around in her sleep, nuzzling her face right into my side. Rolling my eyes I absently run my fingers against her spine, feeling the way the bones dipped, then I crawl my hand up her neck onto her head. I pet her hair down gently, hoping to soothe her so her damn kicking would stop, however it prompted her to curl closer. Is she trying to fucking crawl into my skin or something?? Pushing that thought away I realize I’d rather be in bed right now. Only problem is, she’s here. I debate my options before shrugging to myself and easily scooping her up bridal style. She makes some sort of airy sleep-induced mumble which I hold still for before walking again when she quieted down. Kicking open the door to my room I set her down on the bed. If she wakes up she’ll just be confused. I light a candle, and while I shouldn’t leave a candle burning all night it will probably go out on its own. I pull a t-shirt from my dresser and go to strip. I pause with my shirt half off before realizing that maybe, just maybe, I shouldn’t do that with her in the room. I step out and come back once I change. When I step into the room she’s letting out tired murmurs and I can’t tell if she’s awake or just a sleep talker, either way I crawl into the bed. Laying on my back I close my eyes again and somehow, pass out without a second thought.

_ Guess who’s POV were in now _

Early morning light filters through the crooked and near see-through blinds as I try to wet my mouth. Feels like I’ve been eating cotton. Blinking slowly I sit up almost immediately. Wait, where am I? The potent smell of whiskey is surprisingly lessened by the crisp smell of clean linen and vanilla. I rub my eyes gently as I am suddenly tugged back down onto the bed.

“Eep!-“ I suppress a scream as I realize it’s just J. “Fuckin-“ Blowing out a breath I turn towards J, who was obviously still asleep. He had looped his arms tight around my waist and pulled me in tight. I gently cuddled up to him and chuckled. He was such a big teddy bear, I fuckin knew it. He sucked in a deep breath before waking. I could help but watch him, he made a stupid, slightly cross-eyed face at me before he jumped and let go of me. I stretched upwards and sat up again.

“Morning,” I giggle. Pushing stray strands of hair from my face I tilt my head at him. He seems surprised that I’m so chill for a minute before he himself stretches up and lets out a dad-ish groan. He lets out a few tired grumbles before looking over to me again.

“Mornin’,” he murmurs softly. “So uh, I guess I was holding you while I slept huh?” 

“Mhm, you even yanked me back down when I sat up because I woke up,” he then let out a string of soft, unidentifiable but clearly annoyed words before scooting back over to me a little. J then gently grabbed me and pulled me into him, pushing my face against his chest. Pressing a gentle half-kiss to the top of my head he smiled against my hair. Something sparked in me, I’m not quite sure what, but I knew something had. I could tell he was just acting tough because as soon as I had completely relaxed into his arms he pulled me even closer to him, tightening his grip. A burning sensation crawled up my cheeks to my ears, I was completely flushed and I knew it. We stayed like that for a few minutes, wrapped in each other’s embrace before we heard a rustling from Toby’s bedroom.

“Daaad?” The small boy's voice rang high with mild fear. Immediately me and Johnathan sat up, he was out of bed before me but I quickly scuttled in behind him. Creaking open the door to Toby’s room J had already knelt down beside Toby to ask him what was wrong. The kid wiped at his eyes and muttered under his breath.

“Y’ gotta speak up kid I can’t understand you when you mumble like that,” the tiny brunette tilted his chin up to look at his father, then his eyes drifted to me and back to his dad.

“I had a bad dream… it was scary an’ a monster was chasing me…” his high voice quivered as Schlatt scooped the boy into his arms.

“You’re alright kid, that monster wasn’t real, none of it was,” Toby’s little breaths hiccuped and strained and I stepped up beside the two and picked up the boy’s discarded bee plush.

“Buzzy..!” He whisper-shouted as he saw the bee. I make a little buzzing sound before landing the plush on the kid’s head. Toby grabbed the plush and pulled it close, forgetting about his previous night terror.

“Well, since we’re all up,” I chuckle and Schlatt gives me a half-hearted glare.

“Breakfast!” Shouts Toby, wriggling in J’s arms. J waltzes past me and into his kitchen I follow him, of course. I took a quick glance at the clock and realized we had slept until 2pm, jesus. He pulls up a chair from the island between the kitchen and the living room and helps Toby up onto it. I fold my hands in front of my chest and he glances over to me.

“You gonna help, dumb broad?” I give a happy nod and hop up to his side.

“What’d you need, boss?” He gives an exasperated sigh as he gestures to the fridge.

“Eggs, milk, butter,” he lists the ingredients plainly before ducking his head down to the lower cabinets. Popping open the door I gather the ingredients noting his fridge is rather well stocked. Pulling my head out of the fridge I swing around and place the ingredients down. He flicks a piece of paper down in front of me. Oh! Instructions for waffles! Quickly I duck to where I saw him grab a bowl and I snatch up one as he pulls out a waffle maker. Getting to work I roll up my sleeves and start scooping and pouring measurements with the measuring items that seemed to have just, mysteriously appeared beside me. 

It’s only a few minutes before the waffle batter is made and Schlatt is pouring ladles full of it into the maker. I sit with Toby on the other side of the island, him having acquired a piece of paper and a pencil. Smiling, I start bopping my head to an imaginary song stuck in my head before feeling someone gently bonk the top of my head. I looked up to see J’s face inches from mine as he leaned his face in his hands on the counter. He chuckles and rolls his eyes as he simply stares, there's a flickering light in his eyes, some sort of thought, and idea but I can’t possibly decipher it before he straightens up and ruffles Toby’s hair beside me. I sit up a little more too before glancing over to Toby’s drawing.

“What’cha drawing, Tobes?” Toby’s head flicked up to me and then he grinned.

“Oh! Here! Look, I’m done!” I feel the corners of my mouth tug upwards. The drawing depicted Toby, Jonathan, and I all sitting together in the park, scrappy trees surrounded us and we were all smiling brightly. There was a pool of blue that Toby happily pointed out was a lake that we were all going to swim in later. Giggling I ruffle Toby’s hair.

“That looks amazing Tobes! You’re becoming quite the artist,” I gently nudge the kid and he bubbles over in happiness. Jonathan places a plate of waffles down and I suddenly realized that I had very much zoned out during all of this. A plate, empty this time, was placed closer to me and I grabbed some food and began to eat.

Breakfast was slow and quiet, more than once I had to wipe Toby’s face cause he had drenched himself in syrup. After wiping Toby’s face for hopefully the last time I look up and see Johnathan with syrup also dripping down his face. I let out an over-exaggerated sigh.

“Like father, like son,” I laugh breathily before leaning over and wiping his mouth. “I thought I was only helping you with one kid, not two,” he sneers at me and suppresses the smile tugging on the corners of his mouth.

“You are absolutely insufferable,” J snickers as he swipes up some syrup and plants it directly on my nose.

“You little-” I take a side-glance at Toby before flickering my gaze back at J and sneering right back at him. His sneer had developed into a smug smile at this point and I rolled my eyes. Wiping up my own face now Toby lets out a little burp and I giggle. “Nice one,” Immediately I swipe up the now empty plates and start running the sink. J helps Toby out of his chair and the brunette boy happily bounces off to do... something or other. J didn’t seem particularly concerned so I wasn’t either. Swaying slightly I whistle a tune that I had forgotten the actual words to. As I whistled I felt an arm loop around my waist.

“Shall I stay?~” The low rumbling tone of Johnathan’s voice shocked me as he sang words that perfectly fit the melody I was whistling. “Would it be a sin? If I can’t help fallin’ in love with you,~'' his facial hair tickled the nape of my neck as he gently pushed his face into me. He kept the gentle sway of my movement, his hands settling on my hips. I couldn’t help but lean into him. I switched from whistling to humming and he joined my humming. As soon as I turned off the water J spun me in his arms so I faced him. A heat bloomed across my face and ears.

“Not gonna sing anymore?” The question was deflective in nature yet teasing in tone, I didn’t consciously mean to be teasing it just happened. He raised a brow slightly before smiling.

“You liked my singing that much?” He teased. Glancing to the side I couldn’t find the words to speak up. He laughed a little, grinning before taking a small step away. “That’s really sweet,” I’m sure he meant to sound condescending but something about the way his voice lilted and his honey-brown eyes lingered on my lips that changed the tone to genuine. With one final wordless glance he pushed away from me entirely and looked at the clock. “Shit, I have to stream today,” he sighed. My eyes widened before I nodded.

“Of course! I’ll get started on cleaning up!” It was his turn for his eyes to widen, I grinned at his surprise. “I got it, don’t worry about it,” I offered him a wink and a smile. He rolled his eyes before ruffling my hair and then wandered over to Toby to give him a kiss on the forehead and dipped into a side room. When the door shut I took a moment to stand in silence, looking about the area for where I would start. The kitchen portion of the room was the most collected so I decided to start in the living room and work my way out. Taking a deep breath I get to it.

Dumping the last few empty bottles into a bag I stuff it into a cabinet to take it out later. Collecting Toby's toys I waltz over to his room and set them down on the floor. Toby rushed over and immediately gathered them up putting them carefully into tote boxes in the corner of his room.

“Thank you!” He called out before going back to, whatever he was doing. Smiling, I step out of his room and shut the door. Hearing the ticking of a clock I look up and realize I've been at this for a solid hour and a half. It was almost 4:15 now, almost dinner time. Walking up to J’s door I raise my hand to know before I hear him laughing and talking to someone, right, he’s streaming. Padding away from his door I knock on Toby’s. The door opens quickly as the kid smiles up at me.

“Hi!” He giggles and opens the door more. I take a half step in and crouch down. Meeting the small brunette face-to-face.

“Hey bud, I was wondering if you wanted to do anything?” Immediately, as if someone had shot off a firework the energy in the room buzzed. Toby’s eyes flared excitedly as he bounced in his spot.

“Oh oh oh!! Come play with Buzzy and me!” I withheld giggling as he took my hand and pulled me towards a small table that had four chairs, two were taken by plushes and Toby took the one across from me. Sitting down, my knees tucked up against my chest, this is very small… Toby had no issue though as he took out a small stack of papers. I raised my brow as he began addressing ‘us’. “Ms. Broad,” oh my god that’s the only thing he knows me as, “monsters are attacking the city and we need our best heroes on this job, are you ready?” I give him a firm nod. His serious little facade cracked as he grabbed the bee plush and nodded back at me. “I’ll help Buzzy take care of the monsters over there!” He stood up quickly and rushed over to the corner of his room where he made explosion noises. Pushing down the little bit of embarrassment rising within me I went to a pile of dinosaur toys and made similar explosion noises until Toby let out a dramatic cry.

“Sir Toby!” I exclaimed as I stepped over to him he let out a sad whimper.

“Buzzy got attacked by one of the monsters,” he whispered and I saw a little tear in the bee plush’s leg. I let out a little murmur of distraught before pushing over the other toys ‘saving’ Buzzy. “What are we gonna do?” He asked, heartbroken.

“Can I see Buzzy for a few minutes Toby?” He nodded, reluctantly handing me the toy. “I’m gonna step out of the room with him okay?” He nodded again, eyes sparkling with tears. I darted to the front room and dug through my bag to find the sewing kit my friends insisted I keep there. Snatching it up I take a few minutes to thread my needle and get to sewing the bee back up, I re-sew the seam around the leg, pulling out the old broken thread. This poor plush was not particularly well-made. I stand up with the now fixed plush and waltz back to Toby’s room. He was sitting on his bed cuddled into his blankets letting out soft cries and whimpers. I take a soft seat at the edge of his bed and gently poke his side, he shifts but doesn’t turn towards me, letting out a small and sad response.

“Mmwhat..?” the brunette’s voice wavers as he finally looks over at me, I hold Buzzy out to him and he takes the bee hesitantly. His eyes alight with happiness but not before fat tears roll down his cheeks. He leaps towards me and hugs me tight. I return the hug. Holding him close he presses his face into my chest muttering out plenty of ‘thank you’s’. I run my hand up and down his back soothingly and then ruffle his hair. He coughs gently and holds onto me still. Petting his hair down he curls up onto me, sitting in my lap and holding the bee close to his chest. Toby’s breath slows and I realize he fell asleep on me. Oh geez. For a few minutes I sit in silence, wondering if I should move him or wake him up for dinner. Suddenly an overwhelming feeling of tiredness takes over my body.  _ I can’t fall asleep, I can’t fall asleep, I can’t… _

POV switch:

Shutting down my computer I stretch in my seat groaning loudly as parts of my spine pop. I take a deep breath and stand.  _ I wonder what the dumb broad is up to. _ Walking out into the hall I glance into the front room, hearing and seeing nothing.

“Huh?” I walk down to my room but as I do I see the door to Toby’s room is open ajar. I tilt my head and push it open more. There on Toby’s bed sat my girl and my son. She held Toby so closely, protectively and I felt my heart squeeze in my chest. I don’t even know when I did it but I ended up crawling into the bed behind her, brushing her hair out of my face and cuddling up to her. Her head hit my chest dully as in her sleeping state she pulled herself, and thus Toby, into me. Curling my arms around her small frame I brushed some of her hair away from her face before planting a kiss on the top of her head and leaning against the headboard. That's when I knew, I loved her with all my heart.

**Author's Note:**

> Ps. Yes I know Jschlatt said he didn’t like shipping but I know there are some people out there (like myself) who crave some fic content so indulge yourself!


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